NP Stream: Rough Sketches (2012)

Ladies and Gentlemen, your complete attention, if you please.

After almost 2 years of writing, re-writing, developing, shooting and editing, I am proud to announce my first foray into actual filmmaking is complete.This is the inaugural production of Farmboy Films, my production company. Based out of Regina, Saskatchewan, this is my self-financed (with help from the Saskatchewan Filmpool Cooperative) editing/producing/writing and directing debut. It was inspired by the death and impact of a younger cousin dying of cancer and a story on the DVD commentary track for The Little Mermaid along with influences from the classic Twilight Zone, No Country for Old Men and a nod to The Red Shoes. My plan is to debut it at the year end Sask Filmpool screenings on the 22nd and to take it onto the festival circuit. I’m just posting it on Vimeo and this site here to let viewers online see it for themselves. The password is “viola”.

Our film begins with Adrian Bettis (Kyle Markewich), an animator who one weekend gets a call from him mother telling him that his favorite cousin Catherine has died. At the funeral, he tries to offer his condolences to his Aunt Joyce (Dawn Scott) and his Uncle Dave (William Gardiner), but only makes it worse. After the funeral, Dave goes to his daughter’s room to put the pieces together as to who she was. He discovers a DVD player on pause and turns on the TV to see the cartoon of Princess Viola, a favorite character of hers that Adrian was involved with. Night after night, he goes into her room, watching the same bit of animation over and over again. Soon, his obsession grows and he starts to draw the character, hoping to unlock the mysterious pull the character has on him. After a night of drawing the character, he gives up and throws the drawings into the trash. Later at a family barbeque, Adrian discovers the drawings and confronts his uncle about it. Soon, Dave decides to let Adrian teach him how to draw Viola, but Adrian has other plans. One that involves self-realization and discovery.

Rough Sketches from Luke Annand on Vimeo. The password is “viola”.